Google me: Insider's view of King Kong

By JULIET ROWAN

The hype over Peter Jackson's King Kong remake is growing by the day.

The stars are in town, filming has started and, with his usual enthusiasm, New Zealand's favorite director is posting daily progress reports from the Wellington set on Kong is King.

No effort is being spared to ensure the new King Kong lives up to the 1933 original. British actor Andy Serkis, who was Gollum in Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, is so keen to do a good job of playing the giant ape he went to Rwanda to observe wild gorillas before filming began.

King Kong has captured hearts and minds for generations. The image of the black beast scaling New York's Empire State Building, a screaming Fay Wray in hand, is so embedded in popular culture that it is familiar even to people who have never seen the film.

So what better time than now for a little King Kong trivia, courtesy of Google?

Testament to Kong's staying power, a search produces 43,400 entries.

A synopsis of the movie appears on King Kong Explanation Guide:

"[It is] about a gigantic prehistoric gorilla, brought from a remote island to New York City to be exhibited as a natural wonder, that escapes to cause mass destruction."

The site links to the great "King Kong Lost and Found: Exploring the Fate of the Eighth Wonder of the World", a five-page tribute that includes a photo of an animator readying one of the original 45cm Kong models for a scene in 1933.

The relationship between Kong and his unlikely love interest, played by Wray, is examined in greater detail by fans and film critics on other sites.

Scenes with Kong stripping the unconscious girl were cut out.

Movie database Internet Movie Database has plenty of fascinating trivia about the Hollywood classic. The gorilla's roar, for example, was a lion's roar and a tiger's roar combined and run backwards.

And Kong's official height is 50 feet (15.2m).

Filmsite.org says Wray thought her co-star, "the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood," was to be Cary Grant.

The actress titled her autobiography On the Other Hand in reference to her time in Kong's grip.

Jackson had hoped to include Wray in his film, but she died last month aged 96.

Naomi Watts is the female lead this time.

Like Wray, the Empire State Building is inextricably linked to King Kong. The building's website, Empire State Building, says the two have been "partners" since 1933.

On April 7, 1983, a 26m inflatable Kong was hung from the building to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary.

Kong had also popped up before then, in a disastrous 1977 remake.

Producer Dino de Laurentiis boasted his King Kong would be better than Jaws. But it flopped.

"For all the money he spent on trying to make this monkey look real, the biggest special effect was making Jeff Bridges look like a monkey - and nearly destroying Jessica Lange's acting career before it started," says Super70s.com.

Jackson is approaching the project with his trademark humility.

"The story of Kong offers everything that any storyteller could hope for - an archetypal narrative, thrilling action, resonating emotion and memorable characters," he says at Romantic Movies.

"I am honoured to be a part of its continuing legacy."